The project grew out of a discussion Natalie Ronayne had with her boss nearly two years ago when Ronayne was still the garden's chief operating officer. She's now executive director of the University Circle institution, which includes the 18,000-square-foot Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse.

The concern, Ronayne recalled, was how the garden could further reduce its large energy bill. That led them to a fuel cell advocate in town who then pointed the way to the Liquid Crystal Institute.

Enter John West, a former director of the institute and now vice president of research and dean of graduate studies at Kent State University.

West had never considered liquid crystals for use in greenhouses before, but that didn't keep him from getting excited about the possibilities.

"It makes total sense," he said.

Liquid crystals are a state of matter that's between a liquid and a solid. They are commonly used in television screens and watches, but can also be used to give glass a foggy, translucent appearance. Charge the liquid crystals with electricity, however, and the windows become transparent.

Liquid crystal windows are sometimes used in meeting rooms and bathrooms for privacy. The dressing room doors at the Prada store in Manhattan's SoHo District employ the technology.

But liquid crystals have never really been used in exterior applications. One purpose of the test greenhouse is to see how they hold up to the elements. The light from the sun is a lot stronger than the light from a 100-watt bulb.

In the greenhouse project, two 8- by-10-foot buildings will be erected on the garden's grounds. One of the buildings will be a control greenhouse with traditional glass. The second structure will have a layer of liquid crystals sandwiched between the panes of each window.

A mild electric charge passing through the liquid crystals will cause the pencil-shaped molecules to point in the same direction, thereby allowing light to pass through the window without deflection. But when the current is turned off, the liquid crystals will revert to their natural, random state, causing light to scatter and the glass to take on an opaque, frosted appearance. Sunlight penetrating the glass could be reduced up to 50 percent.

And it could all be done by computer. A light meter would detect when the amount of sunlight reaches a certain level and then signal for the charge running through the liquid crystal to be turned off or on.

If the technology works, greenhouse managers would be better able to control the temperature in their greenhouses, eliminating the need for shade cloths to cover windows or other costly techniques for controlling the interior climate, said project manager Mark Druckenbrod.

Now, a greenhouse manager might have to open doors and blow air down aisles to reduce heat, he said, but that can remove moisture, too, requiring more watering. Open doors also run the risk of bringing disease spores and undesired insects into the greenhouse.

A variety of annuals and perennials will be grown inside the greenhouses to see how they respond to light passing through the liquid crystals. Possible examples include ferns, African violets, cacti and vegetables like peppers. Druckenbrod also hopes to plant seedlings to see how they do. Will they grow straight and strong, or weak and spindly?

The botanical garden has received a $38,000 grant from the Gund Foundation and another $20,000 grant from the Bicknell Foundation to carry out the project. It hired a familiar face to manage the program. Druckenbrod had been with the garden for 21 years before leaving a couple of years ago to help a friend with an erosion control company.

The first phase of the project will look at how plants grow under sunlight that passes through liquid crystals and how the energy consumed by the greenhouse compares to that of a traditional greenhouse.

If the results are positive, a second phase will determine whether various waves of sunlight, such as ultraviolet and infrared, can be optimized for better growing conditions, perhaps even shortening the time it takes for plants to mature. Long infrared waves, for instance, are what trap a lot of heat inside a greenhouse.

It's already known that various plants respond differently from seed to flower, Druckenbrod said, and that the plants use different light waves at different times.

It's hard to say how the technology could affect the horticulture and vegetable industry locally. Commercial greenhouses used to thrive in Northeast Ohio, but they began fading away when the cost of heating rose significantly in the 1970s, said Michael Loos, horticulture educator for Ohio State University Extension in Cuyahoga County.

Loos sees the liquid crystal technology primarily benefiting tropical plants because of the narrow temperature zones they must be grown in.

As its stands, the most likely beneficiaries would appear to be the high-end hobbyists who grow things like orchids in their back yards, said Paul Kenyon, director of operations at Arcadia GlassHouse of Painesville, the company that will build the greenhouse structures for the botanical garden.

The technology could have commercial applications, too, especially if it saves heat in the winter, said Wayne Cousins, general manager of Casa Verde Growers, which operates almost 20 acres of greenhouse space in Columbia Township, primarily to supply the Petitti Garden Centers.

Heat preservation is possible, West said, because the same arrangement of liquid crystals that could keep infrared waves from passing through the glass in the summer could keep infrared waves, and thereby heat, from escaping the greenhouse in the winter.

"It will essentially bounce it back in," West said.

Ronayne is aware that there is still a lot to be learned about liquid crystals and greenhouses and that the cost, at least initially, could be a barrier for some. But history has shown that cost has a way of coming down.

"I mean, TVs were really expensive at one point," she said. "So were computers."

Sun News Feature

It’s Your Business is a Sun News feature compiled by the business owners themselves to spotlight local small or new businesses on topics such as the business’ specialty product or service, history and any plans for the future. ... Tell us about your business»

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.